This invention relates generally to disposable waste containment devices and, more particularly, to a liner that is flushable and biodegradable for use with a toddler toilet chair.
The toilet training of toddlers is often a frustrating, inconvenient, and unsanitary aspect of child rearing that is dreaded by many parents. This process usually involves use of a toddler potty chair or toilet seat device and requires a waste receptacle to be dumped and cleaned after each use. Various devices and disposable liners have been proposed in the art for simplifying or sanitizing this repetitive cleaning process. Although assumably effective for their intended purposes, the existing bags or liners are not suitable to be flushed down a conventional toilet either by a parent or the child.
Therefore, it is desirable to have a potty chair liner that may be flushed down a conventional toilet without clogging the plumbing fixtures and which is biodegradable in the sewer system. Further, it is desirable to have a potty chair liner which does not dissolve upon contact with bodily fluids but rather upon exposure to an excess volume of water, such as when deposited in a toilet.
A potty chair liner according to the present invention includes a container having a configuration complementary to that of a toddler toilet chair. The container includes an impervious outer layer, a permeable inner layer, and an absorbent core sandwiched between the inner and outer layers. The outer layer is formed substantially of a polyvinyl alcohol material which is water soluble. However, the polyvinyl alcohol outer layer is coated with a polymeric film that inhibits dissolution of the polyvinyl alcohol until the film is sufficiently hydrolytically degraded. The polymeric film includes hydrolytic degradability additives which contribute to a hydrolytic chemical reaction when the film is exposed to an excess volume of water. As the film degrades, the outer layer dissolves in the water, e.g. in the tap water of a toilet. In addition, an adhesive used to connect the inner and outer layers is water soluble such that the layers will separate when flushed down a toilet.
Therefore, a general object of this invention is to provide a potty chair liner for a toddler toilet chair that may be flushed down a conventional toilet.
A further object of this invention is to provide a potty chair liner, as aforesaid, in which an outer layer includes a polymeric film that inhibits solubility until exposed to an excess volume of water.
Another object of this invention is to provide a potty chair liner, as aforesaid, which minimizes the force required to remove the liner from a toddler toilet chair.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a potty chair liner, as aforesaid, having handles that may be used to remove the liner from a toddler toilet chair.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a potty chair liner, as aforesaid, in which the handles may be selectively coupled so as to close the container for disposal.